Search Results Display Here
Select a country:

Best Credit Cards For Emirates Miles

Discover the top U.S. credit cards that offer the highest Emirates Miles rewards for maximum earning potential. Plus, use our calculator to find out which cards will earn you the most miles!
By Robert Flowers III - 2023-12-27

If you're looking for the best cards to earn Emirates Skywards miles from, then you've come to the right place. Emirates is a direct transfer partner of several major U.S. credit card rewards programs which makes it very easy to quickly build tens of thousands of miles via intro bonuses and everyday spending.

Here are our top credit card picks for earning Emirates miles:

Use Our Calculator To Maximize Your Emirates Miles

Discover personalized credit card options that match your spending habits and maximizes your Emirates Skywards Miles.

Simply input your monthly and yearly spend amounts into our easy-to-use calculator to find the best options for you!


Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Best Premium Card For Unlimited Miles On Purchases
  • Earning Rate: Earn 10X Venture Miles on car rentals and hotel booked through Capital One Travel, 5X miles on airfare booked through Capital One Travel, and an unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel and 10,000 bonus miles annually (worth $100 towards travel).
  • Main Highlights: Complimentary access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass Lounges, up to $100 towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, and no foreign transaction fees.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Venture Miles = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
  • Annual Fee: $395.
  • Summary: High annual fee, but that's all wiped away with the $300 in annual credits and 10,000 bonus miles. Booking through the Capital One Travel portal will earn you the equivalent of 5X to 10X Emirates miles per $1 spent which is a exceptional rate of return.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Best For Flexible Travel Rewards
  • Earning Rate: Earn 5X Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services, 2X on other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else.
  • Annual Credits: $50 credit towards hotels booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
  • Main Highlights: 10% bonus points annually based on how much you spent the prior cardmember year and a 25% boost to point value when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Ultimate Rewards Points = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
  • Annual Fee: $95.
  • Summary: The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the best flexible travel rewards credit cards available. Not only can you transfer points to Emirates and many other programs, but you can redeem points for 1.25 cents each through Chase Travel. This provides an alternative way to get solid value out of your points if you can't find good redemption value through Emirates or their partners.

American Express® Gold Card

Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4X Membership Rewards points on restaurant purchases worldwide, 4X at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1X), 3X points on airfare purchased direct or through American Express Travel, and 1X points on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $120 in annual dining credit ($10 per month) and up to $120 in annual Uber Cash ($10 per month).
  • Main Highlights: Book hotels through The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel and receive a $100 hotel credit and room upgrade upon arrival (when available) when booking at least a two consecutive night stay.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 AMEX Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $250. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: If you frequently spend at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, you'll rake in the equivalent of 4X Emirates Miles per $1 spent across both categories which is fantastic.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Best For Flat-Rate Earnings
  • Earning Rate: Earn 5X miles on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel and an unlimited 2X miles on all other purchases.
  • Main Highlights: Up to $100 towards Global Entry/TSA PreCheck and no foreign transaction fees.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Venture Miles = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.
  • Annual Fee: $95.
  • Summary: Fantastic card if you want to earn the equivalent of 2X Emirates miles on all purchases along with bonus miles when using the Capital One Travel portal. Miles are also redeemable for 1 cent each towards any kind of travel which gives you a large amount of flexibility when booking airfare, hotels, car rentals, and more.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Best For High Value & Travel Perks
  • Earning Rate: Earn 10X points on Chase Dining and both hotel and car rental purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 5X on airfare through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining and other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else.
  • Annual Credits: $300 travel credit.
  • Main Highlights: Priority Pass Select membership, up to $100 towards a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, top-notch travel insurance, and a 50% boost to point value on travel redemptions made through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Ultimate Rewards Points = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
  • Annual Fee: $550.
  • Summary: High annual fee, but offers excellent value and solid benefits. If you can't find solid redemption value with Emirates, you can redeem points through Chase Travel for a whopping 1.5 cents each. Pair it with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and never earn less than the equivalent of 1.5X Emirates miles per $1 spent.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

Best For Airfare & Lounge Access
  • Earning Rate: Earn 5X points on airfare booked direct or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per year) and 5X points on prepaid hotel bookings through American Express Travel. All other purchases will earn you 1X.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $300 in Equinox statement credits, up to $240 in digital entertainment statement credits, up to $200 in airline fee statement credits, $200 in Uber Cash (up to $15 per month and up to $35 in December), up to $200 in statement credits for purchases made with Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection credit on 2 night minimum bookings, $189 CLEAR® Plus statement credit, $155 Walmart+ statement credit (up to $12.95 per month, subject to auto-renew), and up to $100 in statement credits for Saks Fifth Avenue ($50 credit bi-annually).
  • Main Highlights: Global lounge access (Centurion lounges, Delta SkyClub lounges, Airspace lounges, Escape lounges, and Priority Pass lounges), superb purchase insurance, complimentary elite status with Hilton and Marriott, and up to a $100 statement credit every 4 years for Global Entry or up to $85 statement credit every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck application fee.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 AMEX Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $695. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: It has a high annual fee, but it can be offset by making use of at least half of the $1,400+ in credits it offers. The lounge access, high intro bonus, and many other benefits also adds significant value to the card.

Citi Premier® Card

Best For Everyday Spending & Travel
Citi Premier® Card
  • Earning Rate: Earn an unlimited 3X points on restaurant, supermarket, gas station, air travel, and hotel purchases and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: $100 hotel credit when you book a $500+ hotel stay through thankyou.com.
  • Main Highlights: Grants the ability to transfer ThankYou Rewards points to Citi's full list of airline and hotel partners.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Citi ThankYou Points = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Annual Fee: $95.
  • Summary: This is hands down the best credit card if you want to build up points transferable to Emirates Skywards at a high rate on everyday spending. Pair it with the no-annual fee Citi® Double Cash Card and you'll earn no less than the equivalent of 2X Emirates miles on all purchases.

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

Best For Heavy Business Spend
  • Earning Rate: Earn an unlimited 2X miles on all purchases.
  • Main Highlights: Up to $100 towards a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application and no foreign transaction fees.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Spark Miles = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles – equal to $500 in travel – once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
  • Annual Fee: $0 the first year, then $95.
  • Summary: The Spark Miles for Business is a fantastic choice if you plan on transferring miles to Emirates Skywards or any of Capital One's other airline and hotel partners. Being able to earn 2X miles on all business purchases is a great way to quickly build your miles.

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Best For Small Business
  • Earning Rate: Earn 2X Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 in annual purchases, then 1X for the remainder of the year.
  • Main Highlights: The 2X points at no annual fee.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 Emirates Skywards Miles.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $0. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: The Blue Business Plus is the best credit card for small business but it is also the best credit card for miscellaneous purchases. You can pair this card with any business or personal Membership Rewards credit card to make sure you're always earning at least 2X points on your purchases (at least up until you hit the $50K annual cap).

Emirates Miles Calculator: Which Card Is Best For You?

Use our Emirates Miles Calculator to find out which credit cards will earn you the most Skywards Miles based on the spend amounts you enter into the tool.

Results will be sorted by net return which is the average value of the rewards earned, plus annual credits, and minus annual fees. You'll want to take into consideration the benefits a card offers as well on top of the estimated value calculated.

Results will consist of top-rated credit cards that either earn Emirates Skywards Miles directly or earn rewards that can be transferred directly to the Emirates Skywards program.

Loading Calculator...
If the calculator doesn't load after a few seconds, click here to re-load calculator.
Calculator Options
What Type of Rewards Do You Want To Earn?
This calculator can output the best credit cards for a general rewards type or compile a list of the best credit cards for earning rewards with a specific loyalty program.
Frequent Flyer Programs
Select the frequent flyer program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected airline and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected airline.
Hotel Loyalty Programs
Select the hotel loyalty program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected hotel program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected hotel program.
Other Loyalty Programs
Select the program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all credit cards offered by the selected program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected program.
Personal Or Business?
Are you looking for personal (consumer) credit card or business credit cards? You can also include both in the results.
Include Intro Bonuses?
If set to yes, intro bonuses will be included for a card's calculation ONLY IF you have met the monthly spend criteria based on what's entered into the tool.
Do note that we do not have intro bonuses for all credit cards and we cannot calculate intro bonuses for some cards due to the complexity of some spend requirements.
Enter Your Monthly & Yearly Spend Amounts
Resets all fields in the Category Spending section for all columns. Also clears all saved spend values that carry from calculator to calculator.
Deletes all categories in the Category Spending section so you can start fresh.
Add Categories
Search for categories and click 'Add Category' to add it to the calculator. If you want to be more specific, you can specify domestic or international spend.
Type at least 3 characters.
Category Currently Selected:
Spend Region:
About Spend Region: Some credit cards feature categories that only earn rewards when spending in a certain region. Changing this category to Domestic or International spend will calculate such for those cards, otherwise it's assumed by Default.

No Results. This is usually due to:

  • There's no good card options based on the spend entered.
  • The calculator is having a brain-fart and is not calculating rewards properly.

Enter different values or try again later.

Results

These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only.